Motor vehicles comprise a plurality of assistance systems, such as rain sensors, lane assistants or fatigue warning assistants. Every such assistance system comprises a camera by means of which the front windscreen, the road and/or the driver are captured. The image captured is checked for deviations from a certain set state, and if such a state is present, an actor is actuated such as a windscreen wiper motor, a motor for influencing the steering angle and/or an acoustic or visual sensing element.
The camera usually comprises electronics arranged within a camera housing, by means of which the captured images are processed. Due to increasing demands on the processing of the captured images, the computing capacity required for this purpose is growing, leading to an increase in thermal loss. If the camera is already exposed to solar radiation, the thermal load on the camera increases. If the camera is located in an interior area of the motor vehicle, the camera housing is usually covered by a cap for reasons of visual appearance. As a result, it is impossible or at least more difficult to discharge the heat generated within the camera housing in the interior area, which is usually air conditioned. In order to be able to guarantee reliable operation, the components of the camera which are individually used must therefore have a high maximum operating temperature, which leads to increased production costs. Otherwise, it is necessary, in order to avoid damage to the camera or faulty functioning, to switch off the camera entirely or partially, and in so doing limit the amount of heat which builds up.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.